Maybe there are days we seem to just blend into the crowd, and we feel like no one notices us as an individual. If we realize that others – especially our spouse or our children – can feel that way as well, then we can determine to make a difference by taking a minute to notice them in a positive way.

I was inspired to think more about this idea by a portion of a book I’m enjoying, Hands Free Life by Rachel Macy Stafford.

“Let us all be Noticers today.

Let us notice our children’s gifts rather than their flaws. Let us notice what our spouse does right, not what he or she did wrong. Let us notice the sacrifices our parents made, rather than all the times they messed up.

Let us notice how hard people are working, not how quickly they are providing service. Let us notice where our love and kindness is needed, rather than spew criticism and scrutiny where it is not needed.

Let us be Noticers. Love others right where they are….just as they are. Someone is just waiting for us to notice what’s blooming or wilting inside that could use a little undivided attention.”

This act of noticing could be as simple as complimenting the cashier at the grocery store on her manicure or thanking your husband for taking out the trash or praising your child for how neatly she put her toys away. Let’s see how many people we can notice and appreciate today!

In honor of my birthday yesterday, I thought I’d share some of the things I’m enjoying this week!

My current phone wallpaper – one of my favorite photos from earlier this year

Book:The Bronze Bow. Yes, I read this book aloud to my children several years ago, but I wanted to revisit it and see if it was as good as I remembered!

Song:You Are Always Good. A couple sang this at our church several Sundays ago, and I immediately came home and added it to my Gospel playlist.

Blog:This Life I Live. Don’t know why I did this to myself yesterday, but I caught up on the last few posts that Rory has written. Cried through a couple of tissues….

Podcast:Growing Up the Zeller Way and Teamwork on Family Life Today. This two-part series has Steve and Lorri Zeller sharing how they parented three boys through high-profile college basketball careers and on into the NBA.

Instagrammer:Rachel Cruze. She’s been in Israel for the past ten days and the pictures she’s posted show just what a beautiful and unique country it is.

Recipe:Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. Confession – I halved this recipe and made it for myself for breakfast yesterday (also using Jen’s Easy Cream Cheese Frosting). And I, myself, will eat them all (though not at one sitting) since no one else in the family likes them very much. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it! 🙂

Bible verse: Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Still pondering this verse from Monday’s post.

As expected, I got off track with all of my goals in March. There was so much going on that I lost focus – but I thoroughly enjoyed our travels and our visitors!

Here’s how it all went down this past month.

Spiritual Growth:Use the She Reads Truth app for Bible study every day. I actually stayed on track fairly well here, but did miss a few days. It proved what I already knew – if I don’t have my devotional time first thing in the morning, but think I’ll get to it later in the day, I almost never do.

Family:Write a note to each of my immediate family members at least twice this month. I only did this for one family member.

Relationships/Service:Text one friend each week to let them know I am thinking of and praying for them. I just missed this one week.

Personal Development/Health:Eat something green every weekday. When I was home, I did well with this goal, but once our trips began, I definitely failed here! I hope to get back to healthier eating in April.

Blog:Spend 30 minutes each weekday writing for the blog. Again, I kept up with this for the first half of the month, but didn’t do it all after that.

I’m almost scared to say this, but April looks to be a calmer month! Here’s what I hope to accomplish in the coming weeks.

Spiritual Growth:Write out a specific prayer list for each of my immediate family members at the beginning of the month and pray through it every day. I had this as a yearly goal last year and am finding I miss having this list to go to every day. It gives me clear direction as I pray for my husband and children.

Family:Write a note to each of my immediate family members at least twice this month. I want to give this another try for April.

Relationships/Service:Text one friend each week to let them know I am thinking of and praying for them. I’ll set this goal for another month because it’s a simple way of reaching out to family and friends to let them know I care about them.

Personal Development/Health: Eat 3 servings of fruits and vegetables every week day.Hopefully this will help me get back in the habit of paying more attention to what I’m eating.Blog:Post to Instagram 4 days a week. I’ve never been very good at taking pictures consistently, but I want to document our days a little more – they’re passing so quickly!

Due to being involved with my daughters’ fine arts competition with their school, family activities, and a week of spring break, it’s going to be quiet here on the blog for the next week or so. However, I thought I’d leave you with a few previously published Easter posts of mine as well as some other inspiring Easter content!

As some warmer weather came through earlier this week, I started looking in my closet to see what I could trade for my heavier jackets and winter boots!

It will still be awhile before I can wear spring clothes full-time, but I like to evaluate the pieces that I already own so that I can be ready to put together some new outfits when those higher temperatures arrive for good.

Here are 10 style ideas that I’d like to include in my wardrobe this spring.

1. Maxi dress with denim jacket. This look is so pretty (okay, except that the hat’s not my thing 😉 For me to copy this idea, I’d just need to find the right maxi dress. I’ve dragged a few to the dressing room in the past, but haven’t found one that I really liked. However, I’m willing to give it another try! As for denim jackets….I have three in my closet and have passed up many more that I wanted to buy! I do want to replace a white one that I loved and finally wore out, so that will be at the top of my spring shopping list.

3. Maxi skirt. I own two maxi skirts, both of which have seen better days, so I’d like to replace those this year. Maxi skits tend to be very versatile, and can be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion. A key for me is getting the right fit in length and a material that’s not too clingy. This outfit would also be cute with a denim vest (which I have and love!) or a cardigan.

4. Cargo utility vest. I just bought one of these a couple of weeks ago because I had seen it styled on several fashion blogs and liked the look. I’ve already worn mine a couple of times! I liked it with a navy and white striped t-shirt and a khaki skirt; next I want to try it with a striped skirt and solid-colored shirt.

6. Gingham shirt and colored denim skirt. It may be difficult to find a gingham shirt that looks fresh and current, yet age-appropriate, but I’ll see what I can do. I’d love to find colored denim skirts for myself and my older daughter, too.

Family:Have a date night with John and a one-on-one outing with each of my daughters.My husband and I went downtown to eat at an Italian restaurant the Saturday night before Valentine’s Day, and each of the girls and I had a dessert/shopping outing.

Relationships/Service:Text one friend each week to let them know I am thinking of and praying for them.Done in February.

Personal Development/Health:Make one vegetarian meal each week. I did this three out of the four weeks last month. One week I made a vegetable quiche and served it with a side salad. Another week we ate this Corn and Potato Chowder (but I left out the bacon!) And last week we made a meal of sweet potato fries, roasted asparagus, fried corn with peppers and onions, and sliced strawberries and apples.

Blog:Focus on growing Pinterest boards and interactions. Completed my monthly planner assignments; gained a few new followers as well.

March has shaped up to be a very busy month for our family, so my real goal is to navigate the month with flexibility, a positive attitude, and a sweet spirit! However, I’m also setting some measurable goals that will hopefully keep me moving in the right direction for the year. Since I’ll be traveling twice this month, I’ll give myself grace for my daily goals during those periods, except that I’ll continue with my Bible study.

Spiritual Growth:Use the She Reads Truth app for Bible study every day. I’ll continue with this goal in March.

Family:Write a note to each of my immediate family members at least twice this month.

Relationships/Service:Text one friend each week to let them know I am thinking of and praying for them. Also continuing this goal for March.

Personal Development/Health:Eat something green every weekday. Our Bounty Box (fruits and vegetables from a local farm that are delivered to our door) has started up again, so this week I got fresh kale, spinach, and bell peppers. I’ve been making this Super Food Salad for lunch and have added the spinach to scrambled eggs for breakfast a couple of times.

Blog:Spend 30 minutes each weekday writing for the blog.

How are you doing with your goals?

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One month into this, I have to say that I’m enjoying using monthly goals instead of yearly goals. I feel like I’m more focused on what I need to do since there’s a shorter time frame involved.

Here’s how I did with my January goals.

Spiritual Growth:Use the She Reads Truth app for Bible study every day. Done every day last month!

Family:Pray for each of my immediate family members for 5 minutes each weekday (a total of 15 minutes). I fell short with this just one day in January, so I’m considering it done!

Relationships/Service:Text one friend each week to let them know I am thinking of and praying for them.

Personal Development/Health:Practice the piano for 15 minutes a day, 3 times a week. This is my fail for the month. I followed through during the first week, then gave it up. (Sorry, Mom!) As little of a time commitment as it is, I just wasn’t at all motivated to sit down at the piano.

Blog:Focus on growing Pinterest boards and interactions. I finished all my assignments on the monthly planner and saw some growth – especially in blog visitors – from Pinterest.

Here are my goals for February.

Spiritual Growth:Use the She Reads Truth app for Bible study every day.
I’ll continue with this for another month.

Family:Have a date night with John and a one-on-one outing with each of my daughters.

Relationships/Service:Text one friend each week to let them know I am thinking of and praying for them. Also continuing this goal for February.

Personal Development/Health:Make one vegetarian meal each week. Not only will this hopefully help us eat more healthily, it will also save money as I buy a little less meat!

Blog:Focus on growing Pinterest boards and interactions. I’m going to continue with this in February as well.

How are you doing with your goals? Do you work better with long or short term deadlines?

On Saturday, I cleaned out the pantry and found 13 items to throw away or recycle.

Our desk/office area yielded 11 items.

The garage was next on the list, but that’s my husband’s domain. I have almost nothing out there, but in the cubby of outdoor shoes, I did find a pair of my flip flops that were coming apart! Those went straight to the trash can.

Monday I pulled 5 things out of the living room, most of which were just relocated to other parts of the house. (No, I didn’t get rid of my favorite Bible from my teenage years! It has lots of good, handwritten notes in it!)

Yesterday, I faced the laundry room – the actual laundry area didn’t scare me, but across from it is a large closet where we keep games, puzzles, art/craft supplies, etc. I found 27 miscellaneous things to get rid of.

I also did a quick sweep of our medicine cabinet, and found one expired medication to throw away.

That brings my grand total to 179. I’m thinking I need to lower my expectations and go for 250 items instead of 500! I should be able to finish the rest of the house next week and I’ll share my final count with you then.

The beginning of a new year often causes us to evaluate where we are and where we’d like to be. Sometimes we feel a lack of contentment or are faced anew with a realization of the current season of life we’re in.

Setting goals is good when they encourage us to move forward toward our hopes and dreams. Sometimes, however, we’re dealing with current realities that might, in our minds, limit what we can do. Each of us is in a particular season, whether that’s as a single adult, newlywed, parenting young children, guiding teenagers, empty nester, or being a caretaker. Every situation is unique, but God has placed us in that season for a reason.

Here are a few things I think we can all do as we learn to accept what we’ve been called to do in this moment.

1. Manage expectations. If you have three little ones under the age of five, you’re probably not going to accomplish as much in a day as if you were home by yourself. Having a short, daily to-do list is mandatory in some stages of life. Don’t totally give up on your expectations, but learn what you can reasonably handle and be content with that.

2. Focus on what matters. Our walk with God takes first place, always. In any season, try to make time in His Word and prayer a priority. Then determine which of your responsibilities is the next most important. Often, that’s taking care of our family and making sure they know that they are loved. It helps to remember that souls are eternal while everything else that we deal with is only temporary.

3. Be grateful. Whatever your limitations in your current season, be thankful for what you can do. Look for the blessings that cross your path every day, whether they’re in the form of people, a tasty meal, or a beautiful sunset.

I’m in a season where I spend lots of time in the car, either driving or sitting in a parking lot waiting for one of my children to finish an activity. I also spend time in stores finding that particular item a daughter needs for a class project or a sporting event. One trip to the grocery store each week doesn’t work for me right now. I need lunch meat or a fresh loaf of bread or fruit for school lunches or cupcakes for a favorite teacher’s birthday on a very frequent basis.

But I know that this season is short, so I’m trying to do what I can in the hours I’m at home, seeking to keep my priorities in line, and thankful that I have the health to drive around town and a reliable car to do it in!

My goal is to not only accept this season, but embrace it, so that I’ll have many happy memories to look back on.